Vampire princess
by Desireelovesromances
Summary: a young girl finds out that she's a vampire princess.
1. Chapter 1

A New Legend

Preface

I had no way of getting home. I was lost in the middle of nowhere, not a light or a car was in sight.

I had to turn around.

I was going back to their house.I was being stupid.

I walked back up the hill, tired now. I could see the sun coming up over the horizon , it's bright rays hit me with light. I could see the house coming up before me. One part of my mind was screaming that I was crazy, that I was walking to certain death. The reason that I kept going was because I knew that they were going to get me someday, somehow. It was never going to end until I ended it. It would keep on going on forever. I approached my fate.

Escape 

Destiny's a weird thing. It can get you when you least expect it.

And it happens to the least expected people.

Take me for example. Double weird. It just started with a bad dream…

"Huh!" I woke up quickly from a bad dream. I have been having this dream a lot nowadays. Every day it's the same, something is chasing after me, but I can never tell what. Trying to shake away the awful nightmare I looked at my watch, it was 3:00, the usual time I get up ever since I started getting the nightmares.

Wanting a drink of water, I got up and crept down the creaky stairs to the dimly lit kitchen. After a cool drink of water I turned around.

On the kitchen table a beautiful woman with a sharp-toothed grin stood. I back up and try to scream but , even after the drink of water I just had, my throat is too dry. Grinning, the woman stepped forward. She lunges for the kill…

"Ahhhhhh!" This time I really woke up, screaming, and I fell out of bed.

"What's wrong, honey?" My mother cried as she ran to my room.

"She is just having her little dreams again, the little freak!" My brother called in. "You shouldn't even waist your sleep on it." I folded my arms across my chest and pouted.

"I am the one having the dreams!" I shouted. "I bet you would fall out of bed too if you had them!" The rest of what I was gong to say was muffled by my mother's hug. "It's okay, honey." She whispered in my ear. "You know I won't let anything happen to you." She got up and left the room.

"Yeah, like you could stop a monster." I muttered. I got up and rummaged through my drawer, looking for a purple shirt and green pants, my favorite outfit. I know, weird right? But I'm a weird girl. My whole family is weird. My name is Shakieria Mann. I don't mean to be weird, but I just am.

"Hey." A calm voice called. I turned around, thinking that my aunt Clevor was there, I even think she is weird. But it wasn't, it was my younger sister, Octavia. She was dressed in her usual outfit, a black dress.

"You're having bad dreams." She said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yeah, um, you're not doing voodoo on me or something, right?" My sister is known for her practice with the dark arts. Even though she is just a year younger than me, she doesn't go to my school. She goes to some school on Dark Alley.

"Not yet." she replied smiling. Even she looked at ease I knew that she wasn't joking. She never jokes.

"Please, don't, I don't want you to have any trouble." I said sarcastically as I dug through my closet, looking for some shoes.

"So the dead rise!" A deep voice boomed.

"Dad!" I shouted. My dad is gone a lot because he works at funeral parlor. He burns dead bodies.

"Did you get me the skull I needed?" Octavia asked earnestly, her pure black eyes flashing with excitement.

"Yep!" My father boomed. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a skull. " It's a baby's skull, the softest kind. It will probably do very good for your experiments." My dad looked at her seriously. "Don't hurt anyone too bad." He said.

"Of course, father." Octavia said.

"OK then?" Father hugged us and went to his bedroom to probably get some sleep.

Octavia ran to her room.

I shook my head and went back into my room. My dad and Octavia had a weird relationship. My theory is because they are the weirdest people in the house. I pulled out my list and looked at it.

Checklist of the weird people in the Mann family. 

(Greatest to least)

1. Dad is definitely the weirdest.

2. Octavia is right behind him.

3. Mother is in between.

4. Then it's me.

My brother's not even on the list.

I shoved the list in my drawer and picked up my handmade book bag. I made it out of fox fur. It is very pretty,(to me).

When I ran downstairs to the breakfast table I was surprised to see my brother, John, already there. He is usually the last one up.

He looked troubled.

"Hey!" I said brightly. I sat down in the chair right next to him.

"Hello." He murmured. He wouldn't even look at me.

"Are you ready for school." I asked.

"No." He said, even as he said it he smoothed back his slick golden hair.

"I am going to make an A on the test." Octavia said as she skipped down the stairs. John looked away as she came to the table. He hates Octavia.

"Which test?" I asked. Octavia's school has weird test's like, _who can make their potion blow up the fastest, and who has the most frog hairs._

Octavia looked at me like I was crazy.

"Please not another skull test." John moaned.

Octavia beamed. "You guessed it!" she said.

A skull test when you bring home 10 skulls that the school gives to you and you have to see which one molds the fastest.

What happened to good old arithmetic and reading?

All of sudden a scream was heard from the kitchen.

"What's wrong." I yelled into the kitchen door.

" I dropped a hot frog leg on me. But I am okay, honey." Mother shouted back.

"Yes!" I shouted.

"What?" John asked. Octavia scowled at the sound of his voice.

She hates him too.

"We are having frog legs for breakfast." They are my favorite food. As I said it Mother came through the kitchen doors holding a tall stack of frog legs. She set them on the table.

"I'm not eating this junk!" John yelled. He got up from the table.

"I thought you liked frog legs!" Mother cried.

"Well here's a fact for you. I _hate _them." John said. He was looking at me when he said it. "Listen, do you know what a normal family would eat for breakfast?"

Mother, Octavia, and I shook our heads. John rolled his eyes.

"y The would have pancakes for breakfast, you know what, forget all of you, I hate every single one of you, FREAKS!" John picked up his book bag and ran out of the house.

"John!" Mother shouted, running after him.

"I'm leaving!" I shouted. I picked up my book bag and ran out of the house, leaving Octavia to eat all of the frog legs.

Our driveway is 1 mile long so I usually take a shortcut through the woods to get to school. I was in the middle o f the path when I heard a stick crack. I turned around, my heart beating wildly, but nothing was there. I turned back around to continue on my way when I heard someone giggle, I turned around to look around.

I was alone.

I ran the rest of the way to school.

YYY

I was breathless when I got to Tectontrum Middle school. I always hate the mornings when I first get there because the other kids there have their parents there and they are hugging and telling each other goodbye. My parents don't do that to me. I have to walk to school.

This is the last normal thought that I will have.

"OMG!" A girl shouted. I turned around and my mouth dropped open. I had to remember to close it. There was a bright yellow limo in the school parking lot.

A handsome man in a black suit got out and opened the passenger door. A beautiful red-headed girl got out, her curly red hair flying around in the light breeze.

I saw every girl put her hand to her hair.

Myself included.

Then the man opened the back door and a boy got out. He was equally handsome and his brown hair was cut short. But not to short.

The perfect teenagers came to the school. Their gate was graceful. It almost hurt to watch.

I was a klutz.

They walked up to the school like anybody else would, but anybody else wouldn't have every single person in the school looking at them. (Teachers included.)

They walked to the school. The girl's head whipped to me when they walked past. She nudged the boy with her elbow and pointed at me. They started laughing.

I walked past them into the school, my hands balled into fists.

Homeroom is the hardest time of school. Especially on the first day back from Christmas break, everybody is talking about the presents they got.

"Hello!" A girl wearing a sweater with cats on it said. "What did you get for Christmas?"

"Um….. I think I got two kittens like the ones that are on your sweater." I said uncertainly. Those two kittens got killed by Octavia because she needed cat brains for her new potion.

"Oh, well _I_ got a Ipod and a laptop." She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she peered at a boy on the other side of the classroom.

"I also got a dog brain for my collection." I added before the girl could go on a long list of what she got for Christmas.

"Uh…" The girl was gone without another word. I sighed and went back to my Nancy Drew book.

The door flew open and the girl and boy walked in. All conversation died down.

Clomp, clomp, clomp. The room was so quiet that you could hear the clomp of the shoes on the floor and the tick of the clock.

The girl looked at every person in the classroom, including me. I might have been imagining it, but her gaze lingered on me more than anyone else.

They sat down in a desk near the door. They could look at everyone from that position. They did too.

I turned my back to them as the conservation started to rise again. I could still feel their gaze on my back.

Mercifully, the bell rang for us to go to the next class. The boy and the girl were nearest the door, but they left last.

As I passed them to get out of the door, the girl stopped me.

" What's your name." she demanded.

"Why would you care?" I asked. I pushed her arm out of the way and ran the rest of the way to class.

The next class was horrible. It was Social Studies. They have everything wrong in the class. My dad told me that Abraham Lincoln was not shot by John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln committed suicide. And voodoo artists are not evil, just weird.

Luckily, my social studies teacher was absent and we had a stupid substitute.

She let us talk the whole period. Like that meant anything to me. I had no friends to talk too.

When I finally got out of there it was Mathematics, my favorite subject. Numbers are never wrong. They have rules and stuff.

As you can see I am very different from the other kids.

The boy and girl, so very coincidental, turned up to have every class that I had.

The weird thing is that all of my classes were supposed to be full. But two people were missing in every class.

How odd.

Next period was lunch. We didn't go to lunch with a class like other schools may instruct, we just went from our 3rd period to lunch.

I immediately went to my normal table and sat down. The reason I sit at this table is because it is usually empty.

It is near the teacher's table.

When I got to the table I backed up. The boy and girl were there. They looked up expectantly.

"Hello!" the girl said. She stood up. "Sit right here."

I felt a invisible force pushing me to the table. I struggled against it. It was way too strong though. I found myself sitting down in a chair.

"O.K." I said, throwing my hands up in defeat. "What do you want?"

I vowed to never sit at this table again.

I didn't know then that I would keep my vow, forever.

"I just want to know your name." The girl said. The boy appeared out of nowhere right next to the girl.

"Shakieria, that wasn't so hard, was it." I said. " What's your name?"

"Salono, this is Steve." Salono gestured toward the boy next to her.

"Well it is so nice to meet you. Oh! My friends are over there, gotta go!"

I tried to get up but was pushed down by Salono.

"You have no friends, Shakieria." Steve hissed, or at least I thought he hissed.

"Oh, how would you know, aren't you new here, you know what, don't even answer that, I know you are new here, and you seem to know a little bit more than even some of the old kids here know." I got up and pushed Steve out of the way, I dumped my tray in the garbage and I ran out of the cafeteria.

The rest of the day was a daze. Shakieria and Steve were in my every class, they watched me like a hawk.

I don't know why.

At the end of school I ran to the end of the woods. I heard my name being called and I turned around, already knowing who was there.

"Take a ride with us." Salono said, her brilliant hair flying everywhere. Steve appeared aside her. I saw the limo pull up to the curve.

"My grandma told me never to take a ride with strangers." I said, turning to the woods.

"Yes, that is true, but we are not strangers, you know our names." Steve said as he turned his smoldering eyes on me.

I know that there was no way out.

"I'll come." I said, shrugging my book bag on my shoulder. Salono grinned at Steve.

The limo looked even prettier close up. I slid in the backseat, touching the leather seat.

My family's car was a Kea.

Salono slid next to me. She had put her book bag in the trunk.

Steve got on the other side of me. The man who drove the car drove out of the school parking lot.

The car drove so smoothly I didn't know we had gone anywhere until we pulled in the driveway of a mansion.

"I thought you were going to take me home." I said to Salono. She didn't even look at me.

"Take me home!" I yelled at Steve. I tried to open the car door but Steve's unbelievably strong hands wrapped around my wrists.

"What are you doing!" I yelled at Salono, who was looking at me intently.

"We need you Shakieria. You are the strongest of us all." Steve said quietly.

They opened the car door and dragged me out. I raised my leg to kick Salono, but then Steve brought a rope out of the trunk of the car and tied it around my hands and feet.

"Why?" I whispered, knowing that now it was too late. I wasn't getting away.

Steve picked me up effortlessly and carried me into the house. He untied me and then tied me back up to a chair.

"We call for them in the morning." Salono said. Then she and Steve disappeared.

I felt tears run down my cheeks and drop off of my chin.

What were they going to do to me? And why are they doing it?

I fell asleep.

YYY

"Pssss." I heard someone say, I looked up and saw a boy. He had golden hair, he was very, very pale.

"Huh?" I said. I lifted my head dizzily.

"I'm going to get you out of here." He said. Already my feet were untied and he was working on my hands.

"Why?" I asked, thinking clearer now. "Aren't you one of them?" He had the same beauty and quickness as he untied my hands.

"I am not one of them." He said it like a promise. One more tug and I was free.

"Thanks." I told him, looking around to make sure Salono wasn't there.

"Go." He said. I turned to him

"What about you?" I asked. I was worried. Salono seemed liked she could destroy anyone.

"I'll be fine. Just go before they get back." He pushed me to the door.

"Thanks." I whispered. "Thank you very much." And then I was running.

Salono had a incredibly long driveway. I was tired before I got to the end of it. I heard yelling at the house that was behind me. The house I left the boy in. I gritted myself from going back. They would just get me again.

I ran down the street and took out my phone that had escaped Salono's grasp.

"Mom!" I said into the phone, that was all I was able to say before my mom started to talk.

"Where are you? I waited for you all night long! Are you all right?" She shouted. I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"I'm all right, mom." I said, then I thought about what had happened that day.

"I am most certainly not all right!" I yelled. " I was kidnapped mom, by some people in school. They took me to their house and they tied me up to a chair. The only reason I got away was because a boy let me go. I heard yelling at the house, mom, they could have hurt him. Call the police, now!" I yelled. I heard chuckling at the other end at the phone.

"So what you are telling me is that you had a sleep over?" Mother asked.

"Listen Mom." I said through my teeth. "This might be the last night you ever hear my voice." I winced at the thought. "Goodbye, mom. I love you." I said, then I hung up. I had a strange feeling that I would never talk to my mother again.

I kept on running, knowing that if I stopped, Salono and Steve would find me. As I ran, I remembered Salono saying that they were going to call someone in the morning.

I had no way of getting home. I was lost in the middle of nowhere, not a light or a car was in sight.

I had to turn around.

I was going back to Salono's house.I was being stupid.

I walked back up the hill, tired now. I could see the sun coming up over the horizon , it's bright rays hit me with light. I could see the house coming up before me. One part of my mind was screaming that I was crazy. The reason that I kept going was because I knew that they were going to get me someday, somehow. It was never going to end until I ended it. It would keep on going on forever. I approached my fate.

A car went down the road.

"Stop!" I yelled at the car, jumping in it's way. "Please stop!" The car slowed down. I was able to see the picture of a skull near a light.

It was my mom's car.

"MOM!" I cried, my heart leaping for joy. I saw my mother get out of the car and run to me.

"Shakieria? I've been looking for you all night!" She exclaimed and rushed to me. I hugged her really hard.

"Tell me what happened." She commanded.

I looked around us. "Not now, we've got to get out of here."

Mother nodded and walked back to the car. I looked around me one last time and then hurried to the passenger car.

"Tell me what happened." Mom repeated as soon as she was in the car.

"Well, a girl and a boy kidnapped me in a BMW and took me to some creepy old mansion. They tied me to a chair and knocked me out. Then when I woke up again a boy was there, he helped me get out." I finished. It was quiet for a long time before she answered. "Why did they want you?" She asked.

"I don't know, but kids are kidnapped all of the time." I added.

"But they-"

BAM! Something knocked itself again the car, really hard.

"What was that!" I yelled, my heart pounding.

"I don't know!" She said, her face white. Something in me knew what is was…right when a girl appeared on our windshield.

I heard my mother screamed, but I couldn't move. My eyes were locked on the girl, and hers were locked on me. It was Salono.

"Pull over!" She yelled over Mom's screaming. My mom still screamed. "Pull over!" She yelled again.

My mom swerved on the road, trying to knock Salono off, but Salono stayed on effortlessly. Mother swerved again and this time we swerved off the road, heading for a steep cliff. If we fell off it, we would certainly die.

_I have to stop the car!_ I realized. I crawled out of my seat into my mom's lap and hit the brake. The car wouldn't stop.

"Come on!" I screamed. I pushed down the break again and again, but the car still wouldn't stop.

The car was getting closer to the cliff… I shut my eyes and braced myself for the fall, internally telling everyone I loved goodbye.

_Goodbye life!_ I thought as the car fell off the cliff.

I could see the ground rushing up beneath us really fast. Too fast, actually. Just looking at it made me dizzy.

Just when we were just about to hit the ground, something above us caught us. It hand us suspended in the air, then slowly slowly lowered us to the ground.

"What did that?" I asked my mom. There was no answer. "Mom?" I repeated and looked behind me. My mom had fainted.

"Oh, no." I muttered under my breath. I turned around quickly, my heart beating, as the car door flew off.

Salono was standing there, the car door in her hands.

"Get out." She commanded. When I didn't respond she reached in and pulled me out, her hands were incredibly strong.

"Stop!" I yelled, kicking my legs out at her. "Leave me alone! Why do you want me?" I cried, Salono effortlessly gripped my hands behind my back.

"I think that I can answer that question." A cool voice said. The very sound of it vibrated in my ears. A bright light shone out of nowhere. I covered my eyes because of the intense bright of it. When the light dimmed I opened my eyes, and saw the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Salono, you can let her go now, she isn't going anywhere." The woman said. Salono backed away from me, still looking at the woman.

"Why am I here!" I yelled at the beautiful woman. "Why do you want me!"

"Dear, dear, there is no need to yell, the answer is quite simple." She said smoothly.

"Simple!" I screamed. I turned back to the car but bumped into something solid. I tried to go forward again but something stopped me. Franticly, I punched the wall, but all I did was bruise my hands. "Let me go!" I shouted.

"My dear, it's only precaution, in case you would try to run away. Just another one of my silly ideas." She chuckled charmingly.

I turned around to the car to see my mom one last time, but Salono and my mother was gone. "Where is she!" I screamed, trying to break the invisible wall between me and the car.

"Oh, you mean that human woman that was taking care of you? Well, she'll be just fine. Bites are quick and simple, your mother won't feel any pain." She looked mad. "It's not fair, I wanted that woman's blood, I'll have to talk to Salono later. But, how are you, Shakieria? I haven't seen you since you were a baby, and then only for a few seconds."

"Who are you?" I said stiffly, clenching and uclenching my fists. "What do you want from me, where's my mom, and…" I let loose a sob. "Just why do you want me, please don't hurt my mom, she has nothing to do with whatever you want me about."

"Oh, she has nothing to do with it, that I am sure." She drew herself up. "It's been far to long I kept you in the dark. You need to know the truth." The woman leaned closer to me.

"I am your mother." She said.

My head felt woozy. "You are not my mom!" I screamed, now furious. "I know who my mother is, and you're not her!"

She laughed. "But dearest, I am. I married your father, who was a vile young man. The only reason I loved him was because of his beauty. But after a few weeks, I began to see him for what he really was. After I had you, he took you away from me and ran with you. I never saw you or him again." Tears glistened in her bright gold eyes. "I have searched everywhere. Under every rock and tree. And here you were, living with humans. I never guessed for your father to have been so stupid!"

"My father wasn't stupid!" I snapped.

She turned on me. "How would you know?" She said angrily. "You were but a babe when he dropped you off at a human's house. As if a human would keep you safe from me."

"You are not my mom." I yelled at her. "You filthy, dirty, lying beast!"

A hand whipped forward and slapped me hard on the cheek. Tears came in my eyes.

"Just leave me alone. I don't want to be your daughter." I sobbed. She chuckled.

"But nothing can stop you from being my daughter." She said.

I had an inspiration. I looked at her, only a few feet away from me. But I had to make a break for it. I decided to play a old trick to break her attention to me."Oh, what's that!" I shrieked, clamping my hands on my cheeks. The Queen turned around and I ran down the side of the nearby river. I heard a weird whooshing sound and all of a sudden it was harder to run against the wind. Soon I wasn't even moving. Slowly, I was dragged backward to the queen.

She gripped my arm. "There's no escaping the truth." She said. She turned me around to look at her. "And besides, there's no escaping me."

I heard a bloodcurdling scream and started to cry, thinking of my mother. "Let me go." I whimpered, for the hundreth time.

"No." She said simply. I heard another scream.

I flew into darkness.

Machination

In my dream there was a man. He had dark hair like mine and was black as night. He was smiling as he was calling my name over and over. I ran to him my arms wide open.

Then a woman came out of the forest near us. She too started to call my name.

I was torn, I didn't know who to go to. The woman smiled invitingly. She opened her arms. Her teeth were as sharp as a tiger's. I took a unwilling step to her.

The man leaped and in midair, became a wolf, he jumped between the little space between me and the woman. He growled and she lunged.

"NO!" I screamed. The woman bit off part of the wolf's flank and he howled in agony.

"Please, don't fight!" I yelled. I was running to them, but it felt like it was in slow motion.

The wolf growled and he leaped at the woman, nearly missing her head. As he passed over her she reached up and pulled off some of the wolf's skin. He fell and started to whine.

"Please stop!" I yelled. The woman came in for the death blow.

The wolf looked at me with innocent huge eyes. I turned my head, sobbing, as the woman struck at his head. I heard a whine cut short.

"Come, sweetheart." The woman called to me as she advanced forward. I tried to run when she caught me.

"Why run?" She questioned as she reached for my head.

I woke up screaming.

"Hush, up." A heard a familiar voice say. I opened my eyes to see Salono looming over me. I sat up.

"Where's my mom?" I demanded. Salono smiled.

"She's just fine." She said nonchalantly.

"When will I see her again?"

"You won't."

I looked at the room around me, too miserable to acknowledge it's beauty. "I heard screaming, yesterday." I looked at her for a answer.

She licked her lips. "Can't tell you about that."

"And there was this terrible woman with these extreme powers, who called herself my mother." I winced at the thought.

"She is your mother." This time she didn't smile.

I jumped out of bed. "LIAR!" I screamed. "That …" I tried to find a decent word to call her. "that… woman is not my mom."

"I'm not going to argue." She said, turning her back to me. "But your mother is coming soo-"

The woman walked in. "Hello, Shakieria!" She wrapped her arms around me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Salono leave the room, looking at the woman in a disgusted manner.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright, my daughter." She exclaimed.

I pulled away. "You are not my mother." I hissed.

My "mother" looked deep into my eyes. "You are doubting yourself already, You know what's true, deep in your heart."

My eyes were drew into hers. I saw her holding me in her arms, she was lying on a bed. Suddenly a handsome man ran to her and snatched me away. She screamed in protest.

I pulled myself out. "So you are my mother?" I asked weakly.

"Yes," My mom said smoothly. "and I have looked everywhere." She looked me into the eyes again. "You will do everything I say, and you will be happy here."

"I will do everything you say?" I said for no reason. Was she hypnotizing me? Was this another one of her incredible powers? I tried to fight the calm feeling that was spreading through me.

Mother concentrated harder, making it hard for me to breathe. "Just do what I say, sweetie."

It hurt. "I will do everything you say." I said, trying to fool her into thinking that I was giving up."

Mother released her hold. "Good."

I inhaled generously.

She gripped my shoulders. "But, have you seen your new room?" She gestured to the scarlet room I was standing in. "It's beautiful, and I made it just for you." She looked at my reaction. I stood still and did nothing. It was beautiful, but I still couldn't get my mothers scream out of my ears.

"And," My mother brought me over to a full length mirror. "look at yourself."

I gasped, something had occurred over the night, I was, well, beautiful. More than beautiful, I could beat Salono. I looked questionably at my mother.

"It's just who we are." She explained while I looked at myself in happiness.

"Now we must get you out of those filthy clothes. I looked down at my dirty hoodie and jeans. The memories of last night came flooding back.

"Where is my mother?" I asked. Mother gripped my hands.

"She's perfectly fine." She said, but I could tell she was lying. Instead of fighting her and making her tell where my mother was, I just looked at the mirror blissfully.

"It's okay." Mother steered me to the other side of the room. "But take a look at your new closet!" She pulled open a door and brought me in. A great bright light hit me, making me blind momentarily. Then my eyes adjusted and I looked at the golden room around me.

There were clothes everywhere, silk dresses, high class jeans, and even the shoes I had saw in a window that I really liked. I shrieked and ran to get them.

"I knew you would like it here." Mother said, smiling as I hurried off my old worn out shoes and put on the new ones.

I gave her a big hug. For two weeks I stayed there, every day getting better and better. Very soon I forgot that I had lived with humans. I forgot my fake family and my mom's cry. I was twisted in my new luxurious life.

There was a nagging feeling in me when I went to bed. Something was telling me that something was wrong…

And I nestled in my covers and went to sleep.

After those two weeks Salono came into my room when it was time to go to bed.

"Hey." She sat calmly on my bed and studied me.

I looked at my new beautiful self in the mirror. "What?" I asked.

Salono looked away. "Nothing. You've changed a lot in the last week or two."

"Yeah." I said happily.

Salono pulled a plastic cup from behind her back. "Here's something to drink."

"I'm not thirsty." I said, patting my pillow into shape.

"Your mother insists." She said, thrusting toward me.

"Okay, then." I took the cup and stared at the dark red liquid in it. "What is it?" I asked.

"Um, cranberry juice." Salono said quickly. Too quickly.

But I ignored that and took a sip. "It's delicious!" I exclaimed, surprised.

Salono nodded her head sadly. I ignored her and drank the whole thing quickly.

She took the cup. "Well, goodnight." She said as she walked out of the room.

I nestled in the covers and had my first nightmare in a long time.

My mother was there, beautiful in a gold dress that sparkled. But she was standing in a room of screaming people. She thrust a cup to me. "Drink it." She commanded. I looked into the cup and saw my family, screaming and drowning in the liquid.

My eyes fluttered open and I saw a dark figure standing above me. I stifled a scream that was coming up my throat. I cut on my bedside lamp and looked again, I saw no one. I sighed and went back into my slumber.

After I woke up it took me five minutes to realize where I was. I ran to the mirror and was overjoyed by what I saw.

I was more than beautiful now.

I was even more beautiful than Salono and my mother put together. I went to the closet and got a purple dress that was just as beautiful as the one that I had wore the day before. I went the dressing room and put it on. Then I ran out of my room. I had the whole day to myself and I didn't know what to explore first. I decided to go to down a corridor that I had never seen before. As I went I peeked into a room I gasped. It was a bright cardinal and the bright sun made it shine like gold. I could not imagine what kind of person could live in such a beautiful room. I spun around, absorbing the beautiful circular room. I heard a knock on the door and turned around, my heart beating fast. Salono was there, grinning.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She said as she walked into the room. I didn't think that a word simple as that could describe it.

"It's going to be…" She stopped herself, quickly. I looked at her, wondering why she stopped.

"Go on." I said when I realized that she wasn't going to speak.

"It's going to be, um, a visitor's room." She said, studying my face. I was doubtful and she probably saw it on my improved face.

"It's time for breakfast." She began to walk away quickly. I remembered that she was a vampire. I thought of a movie I had watched with Octavia. Remembering her name made faint tears come to my eyes.

"Salono." I said. She turned around, curious why my voice had become solemn. I turned away, my courage waning.

"Um, which way is the kitchen?" I made something up. I made a promise to myself to ask Luke my question later.

"I'll show you." She said. I went with her down a beautiful hallway that was made up of pure gold. (Or at least that's what Salono told me.) When I picked up a beautiful fragile looking vase Salono shot me a warning glance. I put it back down, as carefully as I could and it still broke. I looked cautiously at Salono, who rolled her eyes and disappeared, coming back with a dustpan and a broom. She made me pick up the broken glass.

"Why did I do that?" I asked Salono while trying to catch up to her fast speed. She turned to me, her face holding a new expression I had never seen before.

"Listen Shakieria, being a vampire, it's not only drinking blood. W-we have all kinds of other powers." She ran all the way down the long hallway and back within a second. She turned invisible with speed. "We have speed." She said as she looked around. She found a metal bar imbedded into the wall and she pulled it out effortlessly. I gaped as she twisted it and twisted it around and around. She threw it on the floor. "We have strength." She came closer to me. "Listen, Shakieria, we also have two other powers that are chosen by how we are when we are people. You… the reason we need you is because you'll have more than two. You will be the most powerful of us all. It's your destiny to overthrow the queen." She pulled away. "We need you Shakieria, being a vampire is not all fun and games. There… out there's a war between vampires and werewolves. You are both, Shakieria, a hybrid. Just , wait, this is just a warning." She looked at my scared face.

"Are you immortal?" I asked. She turned her eyes to her feet.

"Being able to live forever… it's not a gift, more like a curse. To do the same thing over and over, never be able to grow." She said earnestly. "Listen, you still have time to be human. But you only have a week, then you fight in the war." She looked at me earnestly. " I have had to fight. B-but the werewolves aren't evil, just misunderstood. They are very soft and so innocent. You're father was very kind, he saved you, Shakieria." When she paused I found my chance.

"I'm a hybrid? Half werewolf , half vampire. This is _crazy._ And me, fighting in the war? Yeah, you can put me in battle, if you everybody on both sides to die. Can you really imagine me holding a weapon?"

Shakieria smiled for the first time. "We don't use weapons." She smiled and the light glanced off of her teeth. I shivered. She grew serious again. "There is only one way to get you out of this war. There is a group of people who don't like the queen's way's, including myself, Steve, and someone who told me that they know you. His name is Luke."

I nodded intensely. She smiled, "Okay, the first thing we have to do is get you out of here before you turn into a full vampire and werewolf. Then we have to use your powers to help us overthrow the queen." Tears came rolling down her cheeks. "I can't hurt anymore werewolves." She said. I felt my eyes widen.

"When do I leave?" I said. She looked at me.

"Tomorrow night." She said. She used her hands to brush away the tears until there was no trace that they were ever there.

I heard a stomp in the hallway.

"Someone's coming." She said. I turned around to see a shadow coming around the corner.

"Run!" She pushed me before I could explain that running was not a good idea for me.

She zoomed out of sight. I tried to move my legs faster and suddenly felt a burst of energy run through me. I lowered my head and suddenly was… zooming. I laughed out loud and ran past Salono, who gaped at me as I rounded another corner.

I rounded another corner, straight into Mom.

"Shakieria!" She said, steadying me so that she look into my eyes. "Didn't I tell you not to run down that specific hallway?" She sounded jumpy.

"Y-yes ma'am." I said. She studied me.

"Are you okay?" She asked, I nodded and ran into the banquet, she held me back.

"Listen, Shakieria, there are people around here who want my power. They will try to use to overthrow me. Do not trust them. They are horrible people who do not like my peaceful motives with werewolves, they would rather enslave them and make themselves the rulers. Do not listen to them, Shakieria."

A normal person couldn't doubt her perfect concern on her voice, the fake strain that made it so convincing. Yet, it only made doubt her even more, it was like talking to a actor.

"I will never, ever, try to betray you or dethrone you, Mother." I lied, my voice dripping with falseness, but underneath the smooth mask I was wearing I was worried. What if Salono and Steve and Luke were the evil ones and Mother was the kind and werewolf-friendly vampire?

I went to my place at the breakfast table, thinking about the time when Salono had said that the vampire powers were chosen by how we are when we were humans. By the finish of breakfast I could only think of two that I _might_ have_, _the power of fire because one time at Octavia's birthday, I had taken two sticks and threw them around and around, I was pretty good with them even though I had burned myself on the leg. And I had always been good in the water, always beating John in swimming races.

My mind was swirling around when all of a sudden Salono appeared at my side.

"Did you tell your mother anything that I told you?" She hissed. I looked at her as I gave my empty plate to a vampire servant.

"No." I said, confused.

"Well, the queen came to me and told me to stay away from you." She explained. "She doesn't even know that I am part of the conspiracy. Or at least I think she doesn't know." She looked thoughtful.

"But if she does know she would have killed me."

"How do you kill a vampire?" I was human enough to ask. She looked sour.

"I have never seen it happen, only the people in power know." She said. "Your mother has killed 13 vampires, all part of the machination." She said in a voice so low I could hardly hear it.

"Why are you whispering?" I asked. She pointed to a tall figure coming through the door.

"I have to go." Salono said. "I'm coming to your room at 9:00, the rest of us will be there also."

She slipped from sight.

I looked at the person coming in and gasped. He was very tall and had on the most magnificent robes I had ever seen. Once I got past the gold robes I looked at his face and a chill ran down my spine.

He looked evil. His whole face was contorted into a frown. His eyes were a startling black and cruel.

My mother approached him and they went off into a hallway, talking. I got up from my seat and followed them, from a distance.

"Which traitors have you collected so far, Carlotta." The man said, turning to Mother, who was looking over her shoulder, probably to see if anybody like me was behind her.

"I'm onto a big group that think that killing the werewolves is bad. It is funny watching their feeble attempts to overthrow me. They don't even know that they have a spy in their midst."

I gasped and quickly covered my mouth, internally kicking myself in the leg.

"I am concerned about you, Carlotta." Andrew said.

"Why?" My mom asked, turning to him.

"Well, it is mostly your hatred against the werewolves, not that I object," Andrew added when Mother opened her mouth to speak. "I too think that werewolves should be enslaved. But you also had a _child _by one."

"It was a mistake. I did not know that the man was a filthy werewolf, the king to be exact. It was a bad move. I, the hater of werewolves, married one. I wish I could get my hands on that deceiving scoundrel, but he ran away right when I found out."

"I am aware of this story." Andrew said. "But the council will have to speak with you, Carlotta. I told them the reason it happened, but you know how stubborn Angela is."

I had to duck behind a vase when they both turned in my direction. I hoped that they couldn't see me.

"I could swear I heard something." Andrew said. I looked at him as if he were crazy. He was looking straight at me! I looked down and almost gasped, I couldn't see myself.

"I need to start sending the servants out to patrol the halls." My mom said, sniffing. I froze, being invisible won't stop her from smelling me.

"I smell nothing, dear." Mom said. But she too went closer.

"Do you think that it is Peter, again?" The man asked her. She shook her head, I leaned forward to hear better.

"I annihilated him after to he heard my plan to kill everyone who persisted the cause to not kill werewolves." She flipped her brown hair over her shoulder and sighed. "I wish everyone could think about why I am killing the werewolves. Everyone is presuming that I am doing this because of the mirror- but, Andrew, it's not the reason. You have no idea how easy it is to go through my eternal days, having everybody hate me…" She paused and then whispered in a low voice. "My daughter is truly becoming a real vampire now. She is experiencing the changes that a vampire should feel." As she said it I felt a tingle go down my spine. "She is drinking the proper amount of human blood as needed. We keep the secret from her that the blood that she drinks is her fake families blood." She and Andrew began to move out of sight.

I had frozen right when she had said blood. But that was nothing compared to how I reacted when she said _family_. My heart started to pound as I slowly got up, tears rolling down my face. I walked to my room and slammed the door, I walked to my bed and flung myself on it, crying. I was sure about three things. First, my mother was evil. Second, she killed my family, it hurt me, even though they really weren't mine. Third, she had a spy in Salono's machination. I had to find Salono and tell her. I trusted her now. She was right about my mother. Moms just evil, plain evil. It's one thing to not be able to trust a friend, but not being able to trust your family… It hurt me. I pushed the button near my bed, Salono told me it called the front office.

"Hello?" A deep voice said. "How may I help you?"

"I need to know where Salono is." I said into it.

"Just a second." The voice said. I heard the rummaging of papers and person whistling. "Ah, here it is." He said. "Salono was last seen near lightning Tower." He said. Then a vampire claims to have seen her in the village." I heard more whistling. "Oh, that's reasonable. Salono visiting her fake mother who lives in the village." He said. "Is that all I can do for you?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you." I murmured. I let go of the button and went to the window near my bed. I looked down at the village below and sighed. Finding her was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. But when I got to the door Mom came in. I backed up against the wall, involuntary. I couldn't look at her the same way after what I heard in the hall.

"Shakieria, aren't you supposed to be exploring the halls." Her voice sounded evil. Maybe it was just my imagination but everything about her seemed sinister.

"I-I felt…sick." It was true, after hearing Mom say all of that stuff I did feel sick.

"Oh my dear!" My mom cried, running to me and holding my head in her hands. I forced myself not to flinch from her grasp. She felt my stiffness and drew back.

"What is it." Her voice no longer had the false sweetness, it sounded commanding.

"I told you, I am sick and I don't want you to… catch the disease." My excuses were pitiful so I went on and said. "Also I heard some people talking about you." I said it hoping to get her off of my case, it had the opposite effect. She stiffened and drew back.

"What did they say?" She hissed. I lowered my head, wishing I hadn't said anything.

"Um, they said that you hated werewolves and that my dad was werewolf." That wasn't so bad.

"Listen, that is all a lie. Now, tell me dear, who said this." Mother's voice became sweet again.

"Some servants were whispering about it in one of the corridors." I replied too quickly, doubt was painted all over her beautiful face.

"I must go." She swept out of the room. I waited what seemed like hours until the hallway was silent, then I ran out of the room and down the stairs.

"Wait!" I heard a voice yell. It wasn't someone I knew so I stopped and waited for them to catch up to me.

"You aren't allowed to go out of the castle, well, your room now, ma'am." A servant said, walking forward menacingly. "We will have to return you to your room, miss." Another said, walking forward with handcuffs.

One part of my mind was screaming, what had I done. The other was telling me to run to my room.

I followed neither. I turned and ran out of the room, my hair flying back out behind me, leaving the guards far behind.

But that wasn't the end of them.

At the doors I saw two muscular guards, both with their hands out to grab me.

"Aaaaaaah!" I let out a high pitched scream as I ran through them, they hit each other with a huge "Clonk!"

I laughed and ran into the town, out of the queen's castle to warn Salono that someone there was a spy. A tricky thought made me stop.

What if Salono was the spy?

Or it could be her brother, Steve, or Luke. I felt my mind spin as it fumbled out the possibilities.

I just decided to believe my instincts, and they were telling me to find Salono.

Then I turned to look at the town. I felt my mouth open.

It was the town of heaven.

Every house was a mansion, whether they were made out of real gold I had no idea.

Everyone that were on the streets were laughing and extremely beautiful. A couple of boys were zooming around on a meadow, sometimes hitting each other sometimes, but getting up again and running.

When a stunningly beautiful girl passed she caught sight of me and stopped.

"Are you the queen's _daughter_?" She asked. I nodded. I was not prepared for her to jump at me, her teeth gritted together.

"She killed my brother because he hated what she did. You're her sick daughter…" She pushed me to the ground, her hands felt as hard as stone. I saw her face above me.

"You're just like her, aren't you. You're ashamed that your dad was the king of werewolves.

"No! No I'm not!" I replied before she could hit me again, I stood up carefully.

"I have nothing against the werewolves." I said. I felt like her intense gaze was piercing my soul. "I am against my mother too." I whispered, after looking to see if anyone was around.

The girl looked at me with wonder.

"Hey, you!" I turned around quickly to see a burly guard running to my, he was by my side in a second.

"You're coming with me." He shouted, picking me up and carrying me back to the castle.

"Tell Salono that there is a spy!" I shouted at the girl who looking at me with confusion.

I let the guard carry me inside the castle and into a beautiful room. My mother was perched upon a throne in the middle of it.

"You wicked child!" Mother ran at me and slapped me, sending me sprawling on the floor. "You were the one spying on me and Andrew in the hall. Weren't you!"

I could only nod.

"You've been turned against me, you wicked girl. You would rather help your friends than your own mother!" She turned back to me. I could actually see a flash of scarlet in her usually brown eyes.

"It's not my fault you are evil!" Wrong thing to say.

Mom came at me and picked me up by the hair. I screamed in pain.

"You-will-follow-my-rules!" Mom enunciated every word with a punch. I screamed, I could feel my ribs cracking under the pressure.

Mother flung me at the ground, I felt a stabbing pain in my arm. I started screaming some more.

"Take her to the dungeons." My mother said with coldness in her voice. "Give her a taste of what happens to those who defy me.

The man went and picked me up by my broken arm. He ignored my screams and sobs as he carried me down countless cases of stairs. After screams and hollers of pain from me he flung me into a jail. I screamed as I landed on my head. I reached up tenderly with my hand, my hand came back down covered in blood. I screamed some more.

I laid there screaming, unaware of the staring vampires around me. My screams ceased to sobs, until I was fast asleep.

When I woke up the light coming from the small window told me that it was in the evening, I was confused, I had fallen asleep in the evening.

"Are you awake?" I heard a boy voice say. I tried to lift my head. "Don't move." He demanded. I moved anyway and felt a stabbing pain in my arm and ribs.

"Ouch." I murmured. He snickered. I did a gesture to the small open window.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

"Three days." He replied. I must have looked surprised because he continued on to say.

"When you get turned into a vampire you sleep a lot." He said. "Sit up slowly." He commanded. I felt his arms support my back like a hard pillow and I picked myself up slowly, trying to ignore the pain in my arm.

"What did the queen break?" I couldn't call her my mother anymore.

"Two ribs and your left arm." He seemed surprised I hadn't called her my mother, apparently he didn't know me. "What did she do it to you for?" He asked, "The last time she came down here she was bragging on you and saying stuff like you were going to help her conquer the world." A smile played at his lips. I looked up at him and realized he had the exact same color of hair that Octavia had, I felt my chest tighten when I remembered that she was dead, same as the rest of my fake family.

All because of me…

"Why are you down here?" I asked. His friendly face disappeared, it was replaced by a face like marble stone.

"I was part of the conspiracy against Her Highness The Queen Cornelia." He said, I flinched because of the emptiness in his voice, it had absolutely no emotion at all.

I opened my mouth to say something but was sidetracked by the door to the dungeons opening with a loud bump.

I looked to see who it was and breathed in relief when I saw Salono hurrying to me. She had the key in her hands and unlocked the door to the jail.

"You're helping me escape?" I said hopefully, she shook her head but bent down to hug me.

"Do you know how scared I was when I came back and Luke told me that you were in the dungeons?" She asked. I shook my head. "I almost fainted, the only reason I didn't faint because vampires can't faint." She laughed. "I thought that she had killed you, I mean, because you are a fragile human and all." She laughed again.

She looked up and saw who I was sitting by. Her face instantly became furious. I looked at the boy, who shrugged.

"Get away from him, Shakieria." She demanded. I crawled away about one foot and stopped, exhausted.

Salono rose up in a crouch, I could hear a growl climbing up her throat. The boy slid down in a crouch and hissed.

Accompanied by my earsplitting scream, Salono and the boy launched themselves at each other. They moved so fast I couldn't see them scratching and biting each other. When they stopped, Salono had the boy on the wall by his neck. I was whimpering now, it was frightening to watch.

"You betrayed the machination!" Salono growled. The boy didn't defy, he merely just nodded and laughed. I close my eyes

"All right, stop it now." I hear a guard say as he pulled Salono and the boy apart. "Get out of here," the guard commanded Salono. "Now."

Salono ran out of the dungeon. "You," the guard pointed to the boy. " if I see you causing any more trouble you are going to get the death penalty." He stalked off. I opened my eyes cautiously and looked around. The boy sat on the ground and smiled at me.

How could he even look at me when I had just found out that he betrayed my friends? I felt like jumping on him too, that alarmed me, I am not usually a very violent person.

"Yeah, don't mind her." He said, I converted my eyes away from him. "It's just a little family grudge.

"I thought vampires don't have real families." I mumbled. I didn't want him to think that I was trying to be funny, he laughed.

"Well, you see, I am the one who made her turn into a vampire." I could see that he was trying to earn back my respect. Like I was that easily manipulated.

I scooted to the far end of the jail and put my hand over my head to drown out everything, including the boy's now annoying talking.

"Hey." I jumped when a girl in a another jail scooted to me.

"Um, hey." I replied uncertainly.

"Are you the queen's daughter?" She asked, I nodded, still uncertain.

"Wow." She whispered. "I thought she liked you," she giggled. "But apparently she doesn't like anyone." She turned around to talk to some other prisoner.

To pass the time I focused on the designs on the jail wall and the curve of the dungeon.

It wasn't really bad looking at all, just not as pretty as the other rooms. And it was very clean. Not a speck of dirt anywhere.

I was bored and tired of being stared at by the many prisoners. I laid on my side on the s smooth floor and drifted away.

Suddenly I was in a grassy meadow. It was beautiful, the flower's were all different colors and the grass itself seemed to wave like a ocean.

"My daughter." A man said, bending over me. I was awed by his mixed color and deep brown eyes. They were so familiar, though I knew I had never seen him in my life.

"F-father?" I questioned, he smiled at me.

"Yes." He answered

"Get away from her." A woman's voice cried. We both turned and we saw Mother coming to us, her teeth bared. "She's mine.

"Don't start this Carlotta." The man said calmly. "It's not my fault you hate werewolves-"

"You know very well why." Mother interrupted. "I told you everything before I found out that you could change into a _dog._" She sneered.

"What did you say?" the man got up and faced her, his russet skin rippling.

"Don't…" I whispered. I don't think he heard me because he took a step forward.

"I-didn't-want-to-be-a-were-wolf." He said through gritted teeth. Mother laughed and crouched down, like a cat.

"A filthy dog, you know. I can't believe I had a child by a mutt." That was it for my dad, he jumped in the air, and in midair, turned into a huge red wolf.

Mother smiled and crouched lower. Somehow, I could hear Mother's thoughts. Her mind was full of malice.

"Now I can get rid of the mutt." She thought. "The deceiving puppy that…" I could see her thoughts go red.

I could also hear my dad's thoughts, they were more kinder.

"I knew it would come to this one day." he thought. He sounded sad.

"Don't" I struggled to get up, I fell down, but quickly got up again. "Don't!" I staggered to them as faced each other, rotating in a perfect circle. I tried to run but fell down again.

"Please don't fight!" I yelled. Either they didn't hear me over the suddenly roaring wind, or they chose to ignore me. I tried to get up but felt myself being pushed down.

There was man over me, his black hair was being played with the wind. He laughed wickedly and raised his hands over my head.

"You shall sleep with them." He said. My head felt dizzy.

A wave of blackness swept over me.

My eyes fluttered open and my head hit the bars of the jail. I remembered where I was and looked around.

"I need to get out of here." I whispered to myself, but after looking at the cold, steel bars, I soon just gave up.

"Breakfast." A guard said as he handed each of the prisoners a glass of a kind of red drink.

I took mine as he gave it to me. I looked down into it and smelled the sweet smelling smell. I knew what it was, why it was so good, why all of the vampires were drinking it with flourish.

It was blood.

My hands tightened around the glass and with a pop, it broke in two.

The boy looked at me.

"Have your strength been drained yet?" He asked.

I shook my head, confused.

He looked like he was going to jump for joy.

"Listen," He said. "put your hands on those two bars for me." I obliged. "Now, just pull."

The bars came apart easily.

"Yes!" He shouted. I looked around frantically, sure that some guards were going to come and catch us, but the dungeon was empty.

"Lets go." He grabbed my arm, but I looked back at the other vampires, the girl was looking at me with pleading eyes.

"I'm going to let them free." I said, easily pulling my arm out of his grasp. I walked to the closest jail cell and opened it. The prisoners ran out, thanking me s they went. They went to stand beside a fountain, where they reached in a hand and suddenly looked refreshed.

"We have our strength back." One shouted joyfully. They helped me free the rest of the prisoners, who too dipped their hand in the water and became strong again.

"Lets go." I yelled at the growing crowd before me. They cheered and broke down the heavy steel door, then we tiptoed down a hall and some stairs.

I was finally going to get out of the place. I knew that when I got out of here I was going to go to my dead family's house and lay flowers on it or something just to remember them by.

I heard some steps on the hall in front of us, someone was creeping up the hallway, trying to be as quiet as we were.

"Get down." I hissed. We ducked behind a vase, by the way, it was really hard, and waited for the person to go by. When I saw a shadow I jumped out and caught a girl in my arms.

"Salono?" I asked.

"Shakieria, how did you get out? We were just about to go and rescue you!" Salono cried. I looked behind her and did indeed see about twenty or more people.

"I will tell you later." I said. "This is not the time and definitely not the place. She agreed and led the prisoners and me down a hallway.

After a lot of hallways we had gotten to the front door of the castle, there was just one problem, there was an office with bored looking vampires in it.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"We ambush them." She said. The prisoners will take care of them, you just need to get through that door. I'll come with you and show you your way to the jet. Luke will fly you to America and then, well you are on your own. She turned to look at me. "Just, don't kill to many people at once, it'll make the humans kind of suspicious." I looked at her, dumbfounded. "One…two…three. GET THEM!" She yelled and the prisoners jumped on the office people, tying their hands behind their back.

I ran out of the castle, Salono right behind me. I saw the water everywhere, and a jet landing on the edge of town.

"Run Shakieria!" Salono yelled behind me. Something about her voice made me turn around.

And then I saw it.

"Shakieria, turn around and run!" Salono shouted. She pushed me and I turned around willingly.

I didn't want to look at it anymore.

It's wing stretched over the island, blocking out the sun. It's teeth were sharp and bared.

It's tail was long and at the end, a sharp spike.

I was at the plane in blinding speed. Luke got out and put me in. I could hardly move to put my seatbelt on. I was the staring at the thing that was getting closer… and closer.

Luke started the jet and flew up, it's engines rumbling loudly.

It snapped me out of my trance.

"GO!" I yelled to Luke, who nodded grimly.

The thing spiraled down just as Luke rose up. It missed the jet by a centimeter.

The thing came closer, opening it's wide jaws. I yelled at Luke to rise up, but he just gripped the wheel and the thing came closer, I closed my eyes and gripped my seatbelt.

I felt it drop at the last moment and some horrible screeching on the roof above us.

"What is that thing?" I yelled over the screeching of the monster.

"A dragon." He said grimly.

"Dragon!"

He nodded.

"What isn't a myth nowadays? First there was vampires, then werewolves, now dragons!" I yelled.

"Just let me concentrate on how to get you away from this thing." He snapped. I fell silent, thinking of my limited knowledge of dragons. Nothing I had read said anything about destroying dragons. I pressed my head to my tangled brown hair.

"We're going to have to just outrun it." Luke said after dodging the dragon again. My stomach flipped.

I looked back and saw a sword near the back of the jet. I immediately got an idea.

After I explained my plan to Luke. He looked at me angrily.

"I am trying to get you to America _alive._" He said, gritting his teeth.

"Okay then, you do it, and I'll fly the plane." I said sarcastically. He scowled at me.

"Fine then." He said. "Apparently you don't care whether you live or die, so do it."

I grabbed the sword hilt and opened the door. The air hit me and almost blasted me out of the jet. I did my best jump and landed on the top of the jet. The sword almost fell out of my hands. I braced myself against the wind and waited for the dragon to appear.

And it did. It came out from behind a pure white cloud, it's shiny red scales glittered in the sunlight.

"Come and get me!" I yelled at the dragon. It hissed and bared it's shiny white teeth at me.

I jumped off of the plane, and landed right on the dragon's neck.

It hissed and tried to throw me off but I clung on. Standing up slowly, I stabbed the sword into the dragon.

It howled so loud I covered my ears and got thrown off. I landed on the back of the steel plane, but, amazingly, it didn't hurt.

"Take that!" I yelled at the person on the dragon. The person tore off their mask and I saw the face underneath.

"Steve?" I yelled in wonder. He smiled wickedly and jumped off of his dragon, which twirled town to the Earth. Slowly. Slowly.

Steve landed on the plane, right in front of me. He brought out a scarlet sword, it sang with sharpness as he whistled it through the air. His hair sparkled in the sun.

"Submit now, or face eternal torture." He commanded. His voice was hard and cold.

I flinched.

"Never." I said, holding my sword in front of me.

He smiled, his teeth blinding me. He thrust his sword at me and I blocked it weakly.

I was no good at this. His next hit nearly knocked the sword out of my hands.

"Luke!" I screamed. Than the plane dipped down, nearly throwing me off.

"Luke!" I yelled again. Was he deliberately trying to throw me off.

Than he was there. The plane was probably on auto pilot. He was standing before me, another sword in his hands.

"Good work." He said stiffly to Steve. Steve nodded curtly.

"What's going on?" I yelled at Luke. "What are you doing? Why are you over there instead of over there? And is that a tattoo?" Uh-oh. My weird senses were starting to kick in. "I mean…you mean…you're one of the queens?" I choked out.

"I'm so sorry… that you're so stupid." He whispered, placing his hand on my cheek. I reached up my hand and took it off, harshly.

"One word before we kill you." Luke said, twirling his sword around. "You don't have friends in this world."

My heart was pounding as Luke thrust. I screamed as it hit my chest, but it bounced off.

Steve cursed. "Her cursed werewolf and vampire powers are kicking in." He said to Luke, who was scowling.

"Fine, we'll take her to the queen and have her take her head off like she does to all of those other rebels." Luke got back inside the jet.

During that conversation I was frantically looking around, desperately hoping for a way to escape.

Than I saw it, land, right underneath the plane.

It was going to be my only chance.

I looked at Steve, who was facing the other way.

And jumped.

I forced myself not to scream as I spiraled down to the earth.

Quickly, the plane became smaller and smaller.

I hit the dirt with a thud. The airplane flew right over and I heard Steve shout something to Luke.

But it was too late. I laughed for joy as the plane disappeared.

A couple looked at me like I was loco and I ran down a alley. I was so happy to be free, to be able to walk around without a bodyguard.

"Hello, miss." A dirty man said in a corner of the alley. He had been watching me celebrate. "Can I help you?"

"No, sir." I said automatically. That's what my mom always said to say whenever someone asked you that. My heart sank when I thought of my mom.

I rushed off before he could say anything else. He spoke English, which probably meant I was in America. But which part?

I saw a teenage boy and girl on the steps of a house I stopped to ask them which state I was in when I smelled the most _delicious _thing ever. When the girl flipped her hair over her shoulder the smell got stronger.

I realized it was the boy and girl that smelled so good. I felt something in me want to fling myself at them. I felt myself craving them.

"Hey!" The boy yelled at me. I was shaking as I was trying not to run over there and take them somewhere where I could feed in peace.

"You need some help or something?" The girl said. I _couldn't _hurt them. I _couldn't _hurt them. I won't hurt them.

I hope.

I opened my mouth to say no when all of a sudden the smell got stronger. I closed my mouth and ran off, holding my nose. I wouldn't hurt them. I'm not going to be like all of the other vampires.

I wouldn't stop running until I couldn't smell any human scent. I collapsed against a wall. So this is how it's like for a vampire to be around human blood. I couldn't believe I couldn't control myself. I've been around humans all of my life.

But not as a vampire.

I couldn't believe it. I was the prettiest girl ever, and I couldn't even be around humans.

How did… it hurt to say his name, _Luke _not drink human blood? The smell was so intense, so delicious. How could any vampire ignore the scent?

I rested against the wall, even though I wasn't tired. Suddenly I remembered watching vampire movies with Octavia. I remembered the white creatures that would snatch innocent people from their homes and bite their necks to drink their blood and kill them.

I didn't want to be like that. I didn't ask to be a monster.

I waited for a tear to come down my cheek, but nothing came. My eyed were perfectly dry.

What now? Can I even cry?

I rested against the wall and went to sleep.

At least I didn't have to sleep in a coffin.

Hero or Villain?

I woke up, still bothered by what I had witnessed the previous night. I had woken at least five times during my sleep because a human had crossed my path.

I shook out my damp hair and slowly got up. I didn't feel woozy or dizzy like I should have.

Because I was a vampire, of course.

I smelled a human and immediately covered my nose. A man walked down the alley. Looking twice at me, he walked on. I uncovered my nose and sighed. How was I going to live in a world filled with tasty humans.

What was I going to eat? And how was I going to get it? Where was I going to go?

What if the queen found me and tortured me into doing what she wanted me to do?

Shivering, I looked around me. I hadn't thought of that. What if the queen did find me?

If she did, I had to be stronger. She probably isn't weak because she's the queen of vampires.

But how did vampires train? Where would they train except for that little island in the middle of nowhere?

I could smell human again. But this time it was stronger than the other times. It was…overpowering.

_Don't hurt the human. _I pleaded to myself. _Please don't hurt the human. _

It got stronger. The human was getting closer.

_Please don't hurt the human._

A young boy ,about ten or eleven, walked down the alley. He was shivering(I guess it was cold, even though I couldn't feel it) very bad. He looked at me and whispered, "Shelley?"

_Don't hurt him._ I guess he was homeless by the look of his clothes. I held my nose and answered, "I'm not Shelley." Very simple.

The boy looked disappointed. Now that he could see my face he knew I wasn't who he was looking for. I was more beautiful than any other mortal girl. He sniffed back a sob.

I was still holding my breath. For some reason, I wasn't affected by it. I guess vampires didn't need to breath either.

"Bye." He walked on.

When he was completely out of sight I slowly breathed. It was nice to know that I didn't need to breathe. That means I wouldn't have to cover my nose every time I walked past a human like a idiot.

I figured the reason the little kid seemed so delicious to me was because I was hungry, so I jumped off of the ground with inhuman speed and walked(with _human _speed, of course!) down the alley. I held my breath in case I would see a human.

I thought about humans while I tried to find a fast food place. Since I didn't have to smell humans I could walk about them, I could go to school, well probably not. I should probably stay away from humans as much as possible, I might slip and breathe and end up killing a classroom full of children.

The thought of that made me wince.

I stopped walking when I saw the boy again, he was scrunched up against the corner, crying. I made sure my breath was held and walked closer. I had scrunched down by the boy and had put a hand on his shoulder before he noticed me.

"Go away." He said, choking back a sob.

I ignored his command. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I can help you."

He believed me. "I can't find my mother." He sobbed. "We were in a Wal-Mart and a man grabbed me. He tied me up and put me in a car. He was going to take me down to Mexico to be a slave but when he stopped for some gas I untied my binds and jumped out of the car. I ran away really fast before he had noticed I was missing." He sobbed.

"I'll help you find your mother." I said.

"You can't help me, nobody can." He sobbed.

I remembered something that Salono had told me. "Do you have anything that your mother touched or held?"

He nodded and took off his scarf. "It was my mothers but she had told me to wear it the day that I was taken."

I sniffed it two times. Suddenly I got a image of a woman in my head. She was on the phone and crying.

"He's gone, I've tried to find him. And the whole time I told him to stay right next to me." She sobbed.

I pulled myself out of the image. "I can take you to your mother." I told the boy.

"Really?" He cried. "You aren't just trying to kidnap me like those men did?"

"I wouldn't do that." I got up and held out my arms. The boy looked at my arms, a questioning look on his face.

I realized what he was asking. "I've got to carry you, I go really fast."

"I'm kind of heavy." The boy objected, rubbing his dirt blond hair.

"Oh, come on." I bent over and easily picked him up.

"What are you doing?" He shouted. "Put me down!"

"Do you want to find your mother?" I asked calmly.

"Yes." He said quietly.

"Then just lean back and make yourself comfortable."

And I started to run. The wind rushed around us, people and cars and trees going by in a blur.

My senses lead me from New Mexico to California, to Arizona, and stopping in Texas. I stopped in front of a house and put the boy down.

"Thank you." He breathed. He was breathless because of the run. He went to open the door and I ran away, thinking that the rest was going to be only in their private memories.

While I was running to no place in particular, even though I did have New York in mind, I was thinking of new ideas, some that I had never thought of before.

I could be a superhero.

I could never die, I was extremely strong and fast, I had more powers than any other vampire, and I was dead bored. It all fit in. I could get me a outfit and when I heard trouble with my supersonic hearing, I could rush there and help out. It was all perfect.

I tried to picture what my suit would look like. I wouldn't have something covering my head so that people could see my beautiful face, and the outfit would be a tight black and hot pink. The cape would be hot pink but my boots would be black with pink stripes.

My hair would be flowing freely.

_I wish I could fly. _I thought when I stopped in a little town somewhere in Georgia.

I walked into a store that sold clothes, thinking I should get me a hat to cover my impressive face. I didn't want to cause too much commotion when I went somewhere.

"How may I help you?" A worker asked. I smiled and him and enjoyed the sound of his heartbeat going faster.

"I really just need a hat." I said, waving my hand prettily. I ran through my hair with my fingers.

He smiled and gestured me to follow him to the back of the store. "There you go, the whole selection of hats."

I bent down and looked at a simple black hat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the man stiffen. I turned around to him.

"Vampire." He looked at me. "You're a vampire." I saw fur sprouting from his skin.

I remembered the war between the two. "No, don't do that. You don't understand, I want to help you, I'm not with Queen Carlotta."

"Really." He said coolly. "It's just, last time I checked, all vampires hate werewolves, and I'm a werewolf."

"I don't hate werewolves, my dad was one." I saw him stiffen. He glared at me.

"Your Queen Carlotta's daughter." He spat. "I should have known."

"Listen to me." I said, getting to my feet. "I hate my mother, okay. I just ran away from her. And now I'm not going to get killed by a werewolf."

His fur on his knuckled disappeared. "Why are you around here?" He asked.

"To get a hat, like I told you." I stooped down to look at the hats again. "And I no longer require your service, thank you very much."

"Wait, but I want to help you." He said, taking my arm. I shrugged out of his grasp.

"Get out of my way boy, I'm 'bout to become a superhero." I said as I picked up a hat and studied it.

He laughed. "You know, there's always some insane vampire or werewolf that decides to become a hero."

"Really?" I said, disappointed. "I thought my idea was original."

"You don't know the rules, do you?" He asked me. I looked at him.

"Rules?"

"Yeah, your mother enforced them. 'No supernatural creature can ever expose themselves to humans in any kind of way.'" He recited. I gulped.

"Why not?" I asked. It seemed kind of stupid to me.

He became solemn. "Because some vampire always decides to go on a killing spree."

I looked shocked.

"Well since I can't become a superhero, I guess I'd better go." I took a hat and took it to the cashier, leaving werewolf boy staring behind me.

I put on the hat and walked out of the store, aimlessly walking down the street. I wasn't far from home, I saw some familiar landmarks.

And then I was there, staring at my burned down house. The house that I had lived in all my life, with my now dead family.

I knelt down and put my face in my hands, sobbing tearless tears.

"GET HER!" I heard somebody shout. I stood up really quick and ran down a alley.

I heard light footsteps behind me.

And the alley came to a dead end. I turned around and saw a figure on top of a building, staring down at me.

Out of nowhere, five people stood before me. Two people were now on the building above me.

"Leave me alone." My new vampire voice was hard and cold. Perfect.

"We are taking you back to Queen Carlotta. You can go the easy way or the hard way." A man's deep voice rumbled from a person.

"You're going to have to take me the hard way." I knocked a woman vampire against the wall, then turned around and knocked the man to the ground. I made a break for it, the others hot in pursuit.

I knocked down a huge garbage can and stumbled. I straightened myself up and ran before they could catch me.

When I ran by a door I heard a voice say, "Get in here." I looked around me and went in the door. The werewolf from the store was in there.

"Why are you here?" I asked, sitting on the floor. He motioned for me to be quiet and pointed at the door. I saw the shadows of feet come up to the door.

_Don't let them find me. _I prayed. _Please don't let them find me. _

The footsteps went away. When I could no longer smell vampires, I turned to the werewolf. "Thank you." I said. "But why are you here?"

"I knew you were bound to get in some kind of trouble." He smiled at me. I scowled at him.

"Well, looks like you were right." I said. "And now I must be going." I walked out of the door.

"Where are you going?" He asked. I thought for a minute.

"I don't know." I confessed.

"Well you say your dad was a werewolf, maybe I could take you to him." He said kindly.

My face lit up.

"Wait, why do you want to help me." I quickly became suspicious.

"I have never met a vampire that was okay to be around a werewolf." He said.

"Well, there's a lot of vampires that are against the queen." I said stiffly. "There's a conspiracy that is trying to topple her…"

"Yes, I am aware of that." He said quickly. "And I have met several of them, but they are that the queen would figure them out." He smiled.

I lowered my guard. "You really think you could take me there?" I asked him.

"Yep." He started to shake and hair grew all over his body, a few seconds later he popped into a gigantic wolf. It had to be two times the size of an elephant.

"Wow." I said, mesmerized. I touched his soft fur softly. The wolf motioned for me to get on his back and I did, still in a trance.

Then we noticed that the doorway was to small for the colossal wolf. I felt the wolf shrug and then bust through the doorway. I gasped as I felt the wood hit my skin and just roll away, if I had been human I would have been crushed for sure. But, I wasn't, I was a vampire.

A vampire about to step into the werewolf village. A vampire who betrayed her queen. A vampire who wasn't even a vampire…

Wow, now that I'm summing it all up, my life is a lot more messed up than I thought!

…a wanted fugitive, can't breathe around humans, can't even step into the castle, else I be killed. My own _mother_ tried to kill me…

The werewolf lurched forward and we raced off into the distance.

"Where is it?" I asked the werewolf. He sat down on the ground, now in human form.

"It's not going to be in America." He said in a 'duh, didn't you know that?' tone.

"It's going to be on a island, like where the vampires live." I guessed. sitting down across from him. He smiled.

"Actually, it's not." He smiled. "Unlike vampires, we have our own continent on the edge of the world."

I stared, dumbstruck. "Werewolves live on a continent that humans haven't found? A whole continent?" He nodded.

I was impressed.

"But humans aren't very really looking for stuff that they think's not there." He said, shrugging. "So we don't really have to hide hard."

I looked into the fire. "I had a family that wasn't normal." I said quietly. Poor Octavia, poor mom, poor dad, poor John…

"Really?" He said, interested. I turned away, looking into the forest.

"I _really _don't want to talk about it." I said. He gasped.

"Those vampires killed them, didn't they?"

I could only nod.

"Hey, I'm really sorry." He said, reaching over and patting my shoulder. I was glad I couldn't cry at the moment.

"So, what are you going to eat?" He said. I turned over and looked at him in shock.

"Are you crazy, I'm not drinking some poor human's blood.!" I almost shouted.

"Oh, so you don't drink human blood?" He didn't sound surprised. "I didn't think so."

My voice trembled. "I almost did though, they were just right there, they were so close…" I let my voice trail on.

He put a arm around my neck, scooting closer to me. I shrugged his arm off.

He stood up. "I better go hunt." He started to walk into the woods.

"What do you eat." I asked him.

"Rabbits, squirrels, deer, raccoons, stuff like that." He shrugged.

My lip quivered. "Do you think that stuff would work for me?" I _was_ thirsty.

He stared at me. "I don't know. Hmmmmmm." He looked into the woods. "It might, I never heard of it, though."

I got up. My knees almost wouldn't support me. Was I about to become a dangerous person when I hunted? Was I going to turn on the werewolf who was helping me so much?

I followed him into the woods. "Okay, just find a animal and let your instincts do the rest. It would help if you smelled them out." He moved deeper into the forest.

I inhaled and smelled a strong vanilla scent. It took over me. I ran into the forest after the smell my eyesight was blinded. Soon the blood was in my mouth giving me strength. I drained the thing completely of blood Then I stepped back and saw a young girl in hiking clothes, out of the corner of my eyes I saw a man and woman running away after looking back.

The werewolf found me there, still crying tearless tears, a few hours later. He put his arm around me and looked at the dead girl next to me.

"You didn't mean to do it." He said. "It's okay."

"No, it's not." I whispered. "I was overcome, by the smell."

"Everybody makes a mistake every now and then." He started to sing.

"But-" I started but he interrupted.

"Do you want to get to the werewolf village?" He asked. I nodded my head. "Then get up and lets get going."

"There was a man and woman who saw me kill the girl." I remembered. "They got away."

"What, damn!" He exclaimed. "How did they get away?"

"I let them." I said simply.

His body shivered. "I'll go take care of them." He said and started off into the forest.

"Don't!' I yelled after him. He ignored me.

I sat down of a fallen tree and heard a tiny scream and I knew that the werewolf had found the man and woman. I buried my face in my hands. How had one unexpected murder turn into three?

He came back, I could see a little blood on the edges of his mouth. "Why did you do that?" I yelled at him. He shrugged.

"Humans can't figure out that we're alive. Do you want a whole bunch of humans with torches and pitchforks running after you all day? When humans quit believing in us was the best break we ever had."

"But does it matter?" I asked, now I was getting hysterical. "They can't hurt us, no matter how much they run after us, so it doesn't matter. I mean, vampires could wipe humans completely off the map if they wanted too, so why would it matter if a little bit of humans figured out? The other humans wouldn't believe them anyway!" This I would know.

"I know, I know." He said, waving off my words. "But I have to follow the rules, unless you would like being in a palace dungeon again."

I bowed my head and let me look at the dead girl one last time. "What are we going to do with the bodies?" I heard myself say.

"Bury them…or I could eat them?" He looked at me questionably.

"Burying them is sounding pretty nice right now." I glared at him and he picked up the girl.

"Go on back to the campsite." He said, "I'll take care of the humans."

I watched as he disappeared in the forest before turning around and running back out of the forest.

I sat back down on the ground and pulled out a mirror that I had taken from a store. I was a mess. My hair was all over my face and traces of blood were on my lips, chin, and shirt. So how did I still look like a angel?

I took out a comb and brushed out my hair. Then I wiped off the blood with my sleeve. I wondered if I should change shirts but quickly shook my head no, I put on a jacket instead.

We weren't really deep in the forest, I could see car headlights on the nearby highway. As I looked out into the forest, my mind was tumbling around.

I had just killed a human, a little girl not much older than me. And I had killed her without even knowing. Human blood made me prettier, but still, I never really cared about looks anyway, and I had just killed a human.

I tried to remind myself that it was on accident, but I still felt like a murderer.

Was this how all vampires felt all of the time? They have to be murderers every day for the rest of their existence…

I really didn't want to be like that, but was I on my way to being like them?

I remembered the moment when I had lost control, when my instincts had taken me over…I didn't want that to happen again.

I turned around when I heard a rustling in the woods. The werewolf was there, looking slightly pleased with himself. I turned away.

"What did you do to the humans?" I asked, trying not to sound miserable.

"Well, lets just say that I'm feeling really full right now." He said grinning.

Again I was temporarily glad I couldn't cry.

"We better move on." He said, jumping up. I agreed and picked up my backpack, letting my hair fall across my face so that he couldn't see my expression. When I looked back up I saw him staring at me. "What?" I demanded. Did I still have blood on my face?

"Um, nothing." He said, looking away. I brushed my fingers against my face, but my fingers came down without any blood. So what was he staring at?

I picked up the rest of my stuff. He turned into a wolf and gestured for me to get on his back. I shook my head, I could follow him. He looked disappointed.

Why?

I ran after him into the forest, my thoughts tumbling inside of my head.

He was staring at him minutes after I had looked in the mirror and saw that I was getting even lovelier each day. He was disappointed when I didn't want to get on his back…

He was falling in love with me.

I giggled and his big dog head turned around and looked at me. I waved him on and just walked on. His eyes(when he was human) reminded me of my brother's. Blue and playful.

My heart ached when I thought of my family. They had taken me in without a doubt and raised me like I was there own. It doesn't matter if they were a little weird, they were some of the kindest people that ever existed.

The wolf in front of me stiffened. He turned around and looked at me. I looked around the forest. Then a sweet smell entered my nostrils. The werewolf must had smelled it too.

"Someone's here, a vampire." I said, clenching my jaw. The werewolf inhaled deeply and crouched into an attacking position. I clenched and unclenched my hands.

The vampire passed over the trees and swung off a branch to land right before us.

It took me a moment to focus on the vampire. She was surprisingly familiar. Red hair, blue eyes…

Salono. "Salono!" I shrieked. She looked at me and ran to me and hugged me tight.

"Your alive!" She cried.

"So are you!" I exclaimed. "Tell me everything! Did the queen find out about you? Did she punish you? What about the jailbreak? Did they-?

She laughed but quickly became somber. "She saw me helping you out and had her guards beat me and throw me in the dungeon. I broke out and tried to find out what happened to you. She had her best trackers track me down and catch me 10 miles away from the werewolf territory. I fought them off and came here to find you."

"Steve and Luke, were they really…" My voice trailed off as I remembered Luke's and Steve's betrayal.

Salono eyes averted down to her feet. "Steve had been a spy since I told him about the machination. Luke… well, nobody knew where he came from or anything. He was always a oddball. But I think he was hypnotized. Even though he was weird, he never let his loyalty's fade. He-" She stopped. She looked past me at the werewolf who had changed to his human form and was standing there silently.

"Brian?" Salono cried. He looked up and recognition washed over his face.

"Salono?" He ran to her and hugged her. "I thought you were dead when we were ambushed…"

"No, I got away just in time. I thought that you were dead. I'm so glad that you found each other. I missed you so much." The she reached up and kissed him.

I looked away and watched the trees moved back in forth in the wind. I must have been fooling myself, thinking that he liked me. He was clearly in love with Salono.

"Shakieria!" Salono cried. I decided it was safe to turn around. "How did you find Brian?"

"He was working in a store that I went into. He saw that I was a vampire and was about to turn into a werewolf before I told him that I wasn't on the queen's side. Then he was decided to help me get to the werewolf's territory." I said quietly. Salono laughed and untangled herself from him.

"We need to go into the city." Brian said after a long silence. "We are going to need some more supplies."

"Well, we better get moving." I said, jumping up. "Where are we, anyway?"

Brian smiled. "California."

I find my Soulmate

I watched the cars zoom by us on the highway. We were in Las Vegas and there

were people everywhere. I sat down by the side of the road, waiting for Salono and Brian to finish eating. When a car came by a man pulled over to the curb and asked me if I needed a ride. I politely said no and watched him shake his head and drive off.

Salono came out of the woods with Brian, holding hands and talking as they approached. I jumped up and waited for the light to turn red before we crossed the street. I wondered how I looked with my tore up jeans and stained t-shirt. When we passed a stores window I looked at my reflection. How did I still look stunning?

Then I remembered the young girl's face after I had killed her. My eyes swelled up.

"Here." Salono said. She pulled Brian into a convenience store. I looked around and saw a group of beautiful people whispering to each other and looked at me. Vampires. I turned around and ran inside the store.

"Salono." I whispered to her when I found her. "There're vampires outside."

Salono looked toward the store window. "Do they know that we're…"

"I think so." I whispered. "They were looking at me."

"Okay, grab some food and 3 pairs of clothes." She said. "We need to get out of here."

I saw Brian dive for the candy. I went to the clothes and grabbed some jeans and 3 t- shirts. Salono handed me some money and I paid for it. Brian had a whole bagful of candy. Salono beckoned for us to get out of the store.

"They're watching us." She whispered. "Just act normal." Then she unexpectedly started to laugh. I looked at her in bewilderment. She stared at me pointedly and I joined in.

"Hey, that was mean." Brian said out of nowhere. He ruffled his hair up and put his arm over Salono's shoulders. She giggled and shook it off.

They were really good actors. Even though we were being watched by the queen's spy's, they could laugh and act normal. I joined in with Salono's giggling and pointed some good looking shoes in a store's window. Salono and I pretended that we were interested for a moment then moved on to the next store. I took my old cell phone out of my jeans and pretended that I was having a conservation. Salono leaned her head against Brian's shoulder. I got off the phone and acted like I was telling Salono something about a boy. She giggled and swatted my shoulder. I burst out laughing. We looked ridiculous walking there acting like a couple of normal teenagers.

I snuck a peek over my shoulder at the vampires. They weren't looking at us anymore.

"Let's go this way." I said. I pointed at a sidewalk that would lead us to the mall.

"The mall!" Salono shrieked, trying to look excited. We rushed off, leaving the vampires far behind us.

"Go into the mall?" Salono asked me. "What were you thinking?"

"Well, it left them out of our sight." I shrugged. We entered the mall.

I breathed in the sweet scent of popcorn and ice cream and remembered when Octavia and I had gone to the mall to get some new clothes. It was our first and last time going there. Octavia didn't like being around people that she couldn't curse.

"The food court." Brian said, sniffing. "Lets go eat."

"Hey, I let you get all of that candy, don't be too pushy." Salono said, looking into his bag."Can werewolves even eat Twix bars?" I said, pulling out a half eaten Twix candy bar.  
He grabbed at the candy bar and I pulled it out of his reach.  
"Give me that." He demanded as he tried to reach up.  
"Say the magic word." I said. He looked pained as he opened his mouth.  
"There she is!" A shout came from down the mall. The vampires were pushing people out of there way as they came toward us.  
"RUN!" Salono cried. She grabbed the bag and ran down the stairs. I followed with Brian right at my heels, his skin rippling.  
Salono stopped, making me almost run into her. "They have all the doors guarded. No one can get in or out." She looked like she was on the verge of panicking.  
"We have to do something. Can't we find a way out through the top." My voice sounded strained and I knew I was going to start panicking also.  
"Right. Get in the elevator." Salono rushed to the elevator and stepped inside. "We have to get to the highest floor."  
Brian had turned around and was fending off the vampires, he had turned into a wolf.  
"He could get hurt!" Salono cried. She looked at Brian for a few seconds then turned to me. "Shakieria, you have to go alone." She said. "Just get to the edge of Honolulu in Hawaii and the vampires will find you."  
"What!" I cried.  
"You don't understand, me and Brian, we're soul mates. We are enveloped in a love so strong we can be separated only by force. If you don't go get some help, then we'll die together." She pressed a button and stepped out. "Bye Shakieria."  
The elevator doors closed.  
I pressed myself against the elevator wall to think. How was I going to save Salono and Brian? Would they survive? There was a lot of vampires down there, they couldn't have defended their spot for long…  
The elevator doors opened and I ran out. I ran right into Luke.  
I stepped back warily, hate flooded me.  
"Luke." I said in a voice that didn't sound like mine.  
"Shakieria, long time, no see." Luke said pleasantly. He stepped forward, leaning into a crouch.  
I instinctively moved to the left. Luke was watching me closely, probably deciphering my movements.  
I couldn't beat him in a fight, he was experienced. Panic flooded me.  
He sprang.  
With a startled cry, I jumped to the left. He reached out to grab me and I moved out of reach. He started moving quicker and I countered. It was like a deadly dance.  
I needed a way to overpower him. Soon he was going to lunge when I wasn't expecting it and take me to the queen.  
I jumped at him and bit his arm. He howled and I saw a golden liquid flow from his arm. I stepped back, surprised.  
"Stupid dog." Luke hissed. In a matter of seconds the wound healed itself.  
But-how did I do that? Nothing could hurt vampires…except for werewolf teeth and claws. And I was half werewolf.  
I could hurt Luke but he couldn't hurt me. I flew at him again, biting and scratching his arms, neck, and face. His golden blood was all over him. I crouched for the death blow but Luke ran around the corner, I followed. I caught up to him easily, but I saw him leap a couple of feet and grab a boy about my age by his neck.  
"Come with me," he hissed. "or I kill the human."  
What? He was going to kill a innocent human for no reason? How did he know that this would stop me?  
I crouched. I was going to have to leap for his neck and snap off his head before he killed the boy.  
I leaped and I saw his hand reach for the boy's neck. My teeth brushed his neck, and Luke's head rolled off his neck and hit the ground with a thud, golden liquid.  
The boy stumbled to the ground, looking at me warily. I couldn't blame him, I just killed a human(well not a human, a being) right in front of his eyes. I stared at him and he stared back. What I saw in his eyes wasn't fear or disgust, it was astonishment. I saw the rest of the vampires running up the stairs. I was about to jump out of the window, when I remembered the boy in front of me. They were going to kill him, and for some reason I cared.  
I grabbed the boy's arms and twisted them around my neck. I jumped out of the window, onto the roof of the mall. I ran off the roof and into the woods, not looking back once.  
x x x  
I was in a deserted part of California when I laid the boy down on the grass and sat down next to a tree.  
He looked at me warily and pushed himself up. "Who are you?" He asked. I looked at him and told him my name.  
"Why did you bring me here?" He asked.  
"Those people were going to kill you." I said slowly. "You saw things that you weren't supposed to see."  
"The hell I did!" He yelled. "What are you? You killed that guy back there. And there was this giant wolf that was tearing up this man… Are you some kind of sick assassin or something?"  
"No." I paused. "I'm just like you, except there are people who want to kill me."  
"Why?"  
I hesitated.

TO BE CONTINUED. PLEASE COMMENT. 


	2. Chapter 2

"I…betrayed my people?" It sounded more like a question.

"Fine, but I want to go home." He scowled at me.

"Don't you get it? You know to much. I can't let you go free or they'll kill you. The only way you'll be able to survive is when the vampire queen is destroyed." Oops. I covered my mouth with my hand and looked at him to see if he had heard.

He had. "The what?" He growled, looking straight into my eyes.

"The… conspiracy leader, her nickname is the vampire queen." Please let him buy it.

"Oh," He said. "I thought you said that she was a vampire." He narrowed his eyes. "Then how were you biting that guy and making _golden _blood spill out?"

Darn it, he had seen that.

"Um…" What could explain that? Come on think.

He noticed my hesitation. "Ha! What is it? Was he a vampire?"

Suddenly fake tears formed in my eyes. That's it. I was going to play the little innocent girl. "I-I don't know. They were just there and they attacked me. I don't know what I did, I just wanted to get out of there." I rubbed my eyes and sniffled for effect. Remind me to use that when I need a house to sleep in.

He believed me. He got up and put a arm around my shoulders. "It's okay." He said softly.

I smiled to myself. It worked, now I was going to have to get rid of him without him getting killed. Movement in the bushes. My instincts controlled me and in a instant I was on my feet and thrusting the boy behind me.

I crouched and sprang… and landed on top of Salono. "Salono!" I screamed and disbelief. I jumped up and hugged her. I saw the wolf in the darkness. "Brian!" I petted the giant wolf on his nose. "I can't believe you made it!"

"We almost didn't, but then you escaped and they forgot about us." The wolf stepped out into the clearing.

"No, wait, Brian…" The boy, he didn't know about werewolves.

"AAAAAAAH!" I heard him scream. I rushed back into the clearing and saw Brian trying to run away, the wolf got in his way though, growling.

"Shakieria, who is that?" Salono screeched.

"I had to bring him, he saw me kill Luke. He was going to be killed. Brian stop." When Brian paused the boy rushed past him and started to run in the woods. I caught up to him in a second and turned him around.

"Does he know?" Salono asked me. I shook my head.

"He could be a freaking spy!" Brian yelled at me. "What were you thinking?" He had changed back into human form.

"I'm n-not a spy!" The boy yelled at them. "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Brain probe him." Brian said to Salono. She nodded at him.

"Sit him down." I pushed him down and saw that he was trembling.

Salono kneeled down next to him and put her hands on his temples. "His name is Dwayne. He isn't a spy for the queen, though. He was at the mall to get a new skateboard." She released him.

"That guy was a wolf, and now he's a man. Is he a werewolf?" He looked at us with wide eyes. I shrugged and we looked at each other.

"Might as well." Brian said. We sat down to tell him about vampires.


End file.
